Sunday, March 5, 2017

TBM gunner Lloyd Edward Dean, KIA 5 November 1944

“The Avenger’s pilot, Lt Robert Cosgrove, managed to return to his carrier, the USS Essex. Both Deen and the plane had been shot up so badly that it was decided to leave him in it. It is the only time in U.S. Navy history (and probably U.S. military history) that an aviator was buried in his aircraft after being killed in action.”